Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1019 The Future of North Korea ([-])

On September 1653, 9, Asan Bay, light rain.

Inside the Xinchang County Government Office, representatives from the East and North Korea launched the second peace talks.Perhaps because they accepted the latest instructions from the imperial court, Song Shilie and others were more pragmatic this time. The two sides discussed the "ten conditions" proposed by the people on the east coast one by one. Song Shiyeol once again agreed to Articles [-], [-], and [-] on behalf of the government of the Kingdom of Korea, that is, the Koreans renounced the request for the return of spoils on the east bank (including captured North Korean officials’ families and private property such as money and silk), and at the same time granted the people on the east bank a And the right to fish in inland rivers, and in terms of the limitation of the size of its navy, the North Koreans actually don't have a decent navy anymore, this is actually very meaningless.

Half of the top ten conditions have been negotiated, which makes the atmosphere between the representatives of the Eastern and Western Dynasties a little active.People on the east bank were happy because the war would soon be over and return to Shandong to rest, while the North Koreans were relieved because the people on the east bank promised to recall thousands of people from Quan Bongsu and Cai Huaze who had recently gone north from Pyeongtaek County.

As for the remaining five clauses, the East Bank and North Korea negotiated one by one.The biggest differences between the two parties are obviously in Articles [-] and [-]. As far as Article [-] is concerned, the people on the east coast demanded to clarify the status of Jeju Island, which had been occupied by them for nearly ten years (they clearly demanded to cede it), and at the same time It is required to expand the scope of the Busan Concession on the basis of the previous "Ganghwa Island Treaty", that is, to integrate the adjacent Dongnae and Xiongchuan counties into the scope of the concession, and the people on the east coast will exercise sovereignty.

Although the North Koreans are heartbroken about the loss of Jeju Island, they have long been psychologically prepared. This is the land they took from the Yuan Dynasty, but now it is lost to the "Song people", which can only be said to be God's will.But now the people on the east bank still want to expand the scope of Busan's concession to include Dongnae and Xiongchuan, two counties with tens of thousands of populations. This is stepping on the tail of the Koreans, and they must strongly oppose it.

"Special envoy Song, to be honest, this time we return the occupied land of Gyeongsang-do and Chungcheong-do to your country. There is a lot of emotion behind our country. You can't understand this kind of feeling. The citizens are very sorry. They feel sorry for the loyalty and courage of our country The army did not occupy these North Korean territories when they could, and they believed that our country had lost an excellent opportunity to expand its territory in this negotiation, so we peace negotiators were actually under tremendous pressure.” Juni Lieutenant Orr said, "Therefore, it is our country's minimum requirement to keep the two leased lands of Busan and Wonsan, and at the same time include the counties of Dongnae and Xiongchuan into the scope of the leased land. If your envoy fails to agree, peace will never be guaranteed."

"Your country takes advantage of our country's weakened national power to seize these lands, which we cannot agree to anyway." Song Shilie said muttering.He had no confidence when he said this, but he had to say that, after all, not everyone could bear the crime of ceding the land to a foreign race.

"That being the case, please go ahead, your envoy." Junior stood up again and made a gesture of seeing off the guests, saying: "Please forgive me for talking too much, if your country cannot meet our country's land requirements, I can't guarantee that you will return." If we can restrain the resentful army officers and soldiers, if they "operate freely" in Chungcheong-do and Gyeongsang-do, we will not be able to stop them in time. Regarding this, please fully understand."

Hearing Junior's "rogue" words, Song Shilie, who had read poetry and books, was speechless for a long time. After a long time, he sighed and ordered an entourage to fly to the capital to report the summary of the negotiations to the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty. The crime cannot be borne by him alone!

On September 9, when more than 16 people from Zhai Cong'e, the first division of the newly formed army, went to Jeolla Province for "freedom action", envoys who came from Hanyang City day and night brought Song Shiyeol the latest instructions from the court.

"General Confucianism, please restrain your army as soon as possible. I have brought the latest opinions from our government, regarding the disposal of Jeju Island and the lease." At the third peace negotiation held in a hurry, Song Shilie told Junio ​​as soon as he came up. you.

"With regard to the status of Jeju Island, our country unanimously agrees to permanently cede it to your country, and all property owned by our officials and people on the island will be treated in the same way. Wonsanjin remains the same, and the two counties of Xiongchuan and Donglai can also be placed in new ones. For the scope of the concession, the premise is that you allow the local residents to move freely, and at the same time recognize that the local Chinese residents have the right to dispose of property. As for the lease term and lease fee, I will discuss it in detail after the meeting." Song Shilie said sadly, "As for your proposal There is no problem with our soldiers and horses withdrawing from Gyeongsang-do. However, I heard that your country has a police force, so your country should allow our country to set up a police force in Gyeongsang-do to deter spies and wipe out thieves, how about it?"

"In addition, with regard to the status of Gyeongsang-do and Hamgyong-do, our government has agreed in principle that your country enjoys privileges here. Merchants in your country can also be under the jurisdiction of your country, but they must pay taxes according to regulations. Business taxes can be waived in our country, and tariffs must The tax rate is set at [-] to [-], what do you think?" Song Shilie asked again.

Song Shiyeol's words marked that the North Koreans made another concession, agreeing to the first, second, and fourth three major conditions, and taking another important step towards a substantive peace.Junior was quite satisfied when he heard that these items (especially the first one, which is obviously the most important interest of the people on the east coast) were agreed, because it means that the commercial tentacles of the east coast are gradually wedged into the Kingdom of Korea. This closed "hermit country" will gain satisfactory profits from now on.

"Then, Special Envoy Song, does your country have regulations on the issue of war compensation?" Junior began to ask about the last two clauses that had not yet been agreed upon.

"Your envoy forgive me, our country has been in financial difficulties for many years, and I am afraid that we will not be able to raise a lot of money suddenly. After our country's upper and lower court discussions, it has been decided to give you 20 shi of rice, 10 liang of silver, 5000 liang of gold, and [-] jin of iron. , fifty catties of wild ginseng, one hundred good horses, one hundred barrels of honey, let’s talk about compensation for war expenses.” Sitting on a chair, Song Shilie said with a pale face, naturally full of frustration and humiliation in his heart.

In fact, Junior had long expected that the North Korean government would not be able to pay much money for a while. Fortunately, the people on the east bank lacked everything in the Far East, but not money. Therefore, the compensation for the North Korean people was mainly materials and supplemented by money. The program is also quite satisfactory.But satisfaction is satisfaction, the price still needs to be discussed, so Junior and others started haggling with North Korean Bangzi on the amount of compensation, and finally settled on a figure that both parties agreed on: 25 shi for rice , 10 taels of silver, 5000 taels of gold, [-] catties of iron, [-] catties of wild ginseng (naturally not artificially cultivated in the Kaesong area), [-] good horses, and [-] barrels of honey.

The above compensations, except rice and iron materials, need to be raised within one year, and then sent to Yuanshanjin to be handed over to the East Bank for inspection and delivery; as for rice and iron materials, the Koreans are allowed to pay them off in three years, but they need to calculate interest , 5% annual interest, all rice and iron materials are shipped to Busan Port for delivery.Before the North Koreans complete all the compensation for war expenses, the East Bank will temporarily occupy Gyeongju Prefecture as a guarantee.

Of course, Song Shiyeol and others were extremely reluctant to guarantee that the people from the east coast would occupy Gyeongju, because it was a matter of face—although the Joseon Kingdom really lost face after the war—so they made every effort to request the use of Yuanshanjin, Pusan, etc. The tariffs of the two places are used as a guarantee. In any case, the yellow-clothed soldiers with poor military discipline must be "invited" out.But this is naturally not an easy task. After two days of back and forth, the Koreans finally promised to pay [-] shi of rice and [-] jin of iron materials (this iron material was originally to be paid to the Qing court) immediately. With Shao Shude's consent, the Dong'an talent reluctantly gave up the option of continuing to occupy Gyeongju.Anyway, there is nothing to worry about. The North Koreans are very weak. If he dares not to repay the loan, the army will kill him immediately!

After talking about the thorny issue of war compensation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and there was only one thing left - the issue of North Korea's severance of all diplomatic relations with the Qing court.To be honest, this would have been unimaginable to the North Koreans last year, but after being severely beaten in the face by such a war, the North Koreans are now more realistic.Especially when the war was urgent a while ago, North Korea sent many batches of envoys to plead for the Qing court to send troops to help. closed), so they declined the request of the North Koreans, which naturally aroused their great dissatisfaction.Isn't looking for a backer just for someone to protect themselves at critical moments, and now that the backer of Qing Dynasty doesn't seem very reliable, then they will naturally have some strange thoughts.

"It seems impossible to sever the relationship with the Qing court in a short period of time. Please forgive me." Song Shilie said in a tired tone: "The Qing Dynasty is a generation of wolves, tigers and leopards. If it is not satisfactory, it will send a large army to conquer it. We also want to It has been a long time since I left the barbarians. The lord of our country stayed in the Qing court for many years, and at the beginning of his ascension, he organized the army and went through military affairs, intending to conquer the barbarians in the north. If the Eastern Dynasty were to be the guarantor this time, our generation would be out of the sea of ​​suffering. It will take time, I hope your envoy understands."

Lieutenant Junior had received some advice from Shao Shude before the negotiation today, so after hearing Song Shilie's request, he pretended to ponder for a long time, and finally agreed.However, he also put forward conditions, to report to the east bank comprehensively and carefully all the domestic situation of the Qing Dynasty that they know. If the Qing court recruits troops to fight the east bank, they must reject it and report it to the east bank envoy as soon as possible. procrastination.For these conditions, the North Koreans naturally agreed to everything, so both sides are very happy.So far, the fairly efficient peace talks between the East Bank and North Korea have almost come to an end.

(End of this chapter)